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A Perfect Gift for that Liberal in Your Life
By Lt. Ripley | December 16, 2008
Assuming you have the patience to spend the holidays with your liberal family members, I found a great gift idea over at Hotair. If at all possible, I’d try to get through to them while they’re young(er)… the older they get, the more impervious to facts and logic they seem to be.
Here in the great state of Montana, the minimum wage is set to go up to $6.90 at the first of the year. What does this really mean? More unemployment, a slower economy, and lower earnings for all of us.
According to Liberal “logic”, the argument goes something like this:
1. The federal minimum wage hasn’t been raised in NINE (!!!!) years.
2. All those poor, full-time workers are earning the minimum wage.
3. Anyone working full-time should not be poor.
4. Minimum wage workers are breadwinners, working hard for years without fair compensation and unable to support themselves or their families.
5. If all those Legislators on Capitol Hill can get raises and sweet benefit packages, so should the full time worker. (And the government should mandate it!!)
Hence, the “need” for a Federally mandated minimum wage.
So to combat that logic at the next dinner party, here are some actual facts, where facts mean- “Things that are true.”
1. The states have been raising the minimum wage without the assistance of the Feds, though I would still question the need for government intervention in the market. But that’s a topic for another blog.
2. Very few minimum wage workers are poor, full-time or breadwinners. Most are part-time, live in a household with earnings far above poverty, are under 25, and/or receive tips.
3. Um… Define “poor” in America. Since poverty is always defined at a certain level among wage earners, according to government statistics, there will always be “poor” people.
4. See #2.
5. Two wrongs don’t make a right… didn’t your mama ever tell you that?
In addition, when the minimum wage goes up, studies show that HS graduation rates go down at the same time unemployment rates for workers aged 16-24 goes up. Of course, Labor Unions also favor minimum wage legislation, and that same article explains why:
One clear beneficiary is labor unions, which tend to represent high wage workers. This group favors high minimum wages to lessen the competition from low wage workers.
Hmm… There’s a lesson to be learned here… Continuing along this path (and don’t be fooled-this IS where it’s going), if we mandated high wages, sweet benefit packages and job security for all workers, then the whole country could have Detroit’s economy!!1!1!!!
Merry Christmas, and God Bless us, every one!!
Topics: Welfare State, Economy, Stupid things the Left does/says, Zombie Apocalypse, Manbearpig |
6 Responses to “A Perfect Gift for that Liberal in Your Life”
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December 17th, 2008 at 11:05 am
You guys are never so out of touch as when you discuss minimum wage laws. There’s never been an instance where raising the minimum has impacted employment negatively. All of that stuff is done in the laboratory - in the eal world, minimum wage laws allow people to keep more of the wealth they create, and raise the wage level in general, which is a “em>good thing. You sort of expsoed yourself there. You’re anti-worker.
This subject has been addressed ad nauseum, but you guys are out of reach, lost in Heritage and Cato theory baths.
I’ve touched on teh subject a few times. Tyr here and here
Enjoyed your hot air. It’s cold here in Bozeman.
December 17th, 2008 at 11:06 am
My links don’t work. Sorry.
December 17th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
I think one the the easiest way to prove these laws only hurt the poor and lessen the buying power of the middle class is the cost of a double cheese burger at McDonald. It was $1, after the new law it came off the dollar menu and now cost $1.25-$1.50.
December 17th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
That research has been done after minimum wage laws have taken effect, and they show adverse results.
And do you ignore all the evidence that minimum wage laws do not help people that proponents claim, or is your complete argument that they aren’t bad?
December 18th, 2008 at 10:33 pm
The case has never been made with hard evidence that minimum wages harm low income workers or create unemployment. There have been laboratory cases, as in Pennsylvania/New Jersey (Card?Kruegerl), and another one in Washington state, where MW is high. The results were counter-intuitive, from your point of view, but not mine.
Heritage and others have disputed these findings, but never in a peer-reviewed study - only in their opinion journals. In the whole of society, when MW is raised, it’s hard to pin down the effects, to isolate variables, but tehre is a tendency on the right to find fault with minimum wages no matter what, no matter how, as the right wing tends to be anti-worker. The best evidence comes from those areas where you have areas where minimum wage increased, and areas where it didn’t, and then compare.
Right now only 2-3% of workers are paid minimum wage, but that is because it is set unreasonably low. Had minimum wage kept pace with inflation, it would be in the $10 range, and would positively affect more people.
I can think right off of two positive outcomes of minimum wage: One, it tends to increase wages in general. That’s a good thing - people ought to keep as much as possible of the wealth they create. Two, it sets a floor - it prevents sweatshops. It’s no surprise that capital scours the globe looking for those places where labor is not protected, where living standards are low. There are other answers besides lowering our own living standards to theirs.
December 18th, 2008 at 10:34 pm
That’s “Card/Krueger”